Phrase guide

second person

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience. In English, the second person is used with the pronouns thou and you. In many languages the singular, applying to one person, and plural, applying to several people, are distinct.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: grammar, human-sciences, linguistics, sciences

Examples

  • “Are” is the second person of “to be”.
  • “Hast” is the second person singular of the German verb “haben”.
  • “Habt” is the second person plural of the German verb “haben”.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A form of narrative writing using verbs in the second person in order to give the impression that the action is happening to the reader.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

pronouns and verbs used to refer to the person addressed by the language in which they occur

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: person

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

51 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: veta e dytë — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Arabic: مُخَاطَب (muḵāṭab) — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Belarusian: друга́я асо́ба (druhája asóba) — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Bengali: মধ্যম পুরুষ (moddhom puruś) — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Bulgarian: вто́ро лице́ (vtóro licé) — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Catalan: segona persona — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Chinese Mandarin: 第二人稱 /第二人称 (dì'èrrénchēng) — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Czech: druhá osoba — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Dutch: tweede persoon — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Finnish: toinen persoona — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • French: deuxième personne — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Galician: segunda persoa — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Georgian: მეორე პირი (meore ṗiri) — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • German: zweite Person — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Greek: δεύτερο πρόσωπο (déftero prósopo) — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Ancient Greek: δεύτερον πρόσωπον (deúteron prósōpon) — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Hebrew: נוֹכֵחַ (nokhéakh) — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Hebrew: גּוּף שֵׁנִי (gúf shení) — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Hungarian: második személy — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Icelandic: önnur persóna — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Irish: dara pearsa — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Italian: seconda persona — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Japanese: 二人称 (nininshō) — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Korean: 이인칭 (iinching) — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Korean: 2인칭 (2inching) — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Lithuanian: antrasis asmuo — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Macedonian: второ лице — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Navajo: bichʼį́ʼ yáʼátiʼígíí — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Norman: deûxième pèrsonne — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Norwegian Bokmål: andre person — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Old English: ōþer hād — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Polish: druga osoba — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Portuguese: segunda pessoa — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Romanian: persoana a doua — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Russian: второ́е лицо́ (vtoróje licó) — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Sanskrit: मध्यमपुरुष (madhyamá-puruṣa) — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Scottish Gaelic: an dara pearsa — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Serbo-Croatian: друго лице — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Serbo-Croatian: друга особа — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Serbo-Croatian: drugo lice — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Serbo-Croatian: druga osoba — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Slovak: druhá osoba — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Slovene: druga oseba — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Swedish: andra person — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Tagalog: ikalawang panauhan — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Tamil: முன்னிலை (muṉṉilai) — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Telugu: మధ్యమ పురుషము (madhyama puruṣamu) — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Turkish: ikinci kişi — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Ukrainian: дру́га осо́ба (drúha osóba) — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Uyghur: ئىككىنچى شەخس (ikkinchi shexs) — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience
  • Vietnamese: ngôi thứ hai — the form of a verb used when the subject of a sentence is the audience